The Chinese were one of the earliest immigration groups to arrive in America--around the same time as the so-called Old Immigrants (the Germans and Irish), and much earlier than any of the southern and eastern Europeans. But unlike European immigrants, they found themselves ostracized by exclusion laws, never expected to assimilate.

Only after the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943 could they embark on a "typical American immigrant" path to success. Racial discrimination still played an important part in Chinese American experience, but they showed great resourcefulness in making the best of the opportunities they had.

As a group, Chinese Americans have integrated into American society occupationally and residentially, while retaining their own values and ethnic identity. We find them in all walks of life, competing for political office, running universities and companies, winning Nobel Prizes and Olympic medals, performing on the nation's most prestigious music and theater stages. In fact, so successful have they been that they have been pronounced "a model minority"--as if to prove America is a society where anybody can succeed. Chinese Americans: The Immigrant Experience celebrates the Chinese American life while also acknowledging that they had one of the most unique and painful experiences in trying to make America their home.